


Second chances

by purple_cube



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2014-03-18
Packaged: 2018-01-16 06:12:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1334989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_cube/pseuds/purple_cube
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dr. Aurelius suggests that Katniss could recreate moments from her childhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second chances

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Prompts in Panem on Tumblr, Round 5 Day 1, for the prompt Primrose/Childhood.

 

She doesn’t know who suggested it, but first Peeta and then Haymitch show up for the two meals that Greasy Sae provides each day. And unlike before, Sae also stays and eats with them in the evening, when her granddaughter is already tucked up in bed. When Katniss mentions the new arrangement – this shared routine of theirs – to Dr. Aurelius, she can hear the smile in his voice.  
  
“How does it feel?”  
  
It’s his favorite question – and her least favorite. “It feels…comfortable. Because I know that I don’t have to talk if I don’t want to. And they don’t talk much either. Not unnecessarily.” _Not just for the sake of talking_.   
  
“Not even Peeta?”  
  
She thinks for a moment before answering. “No. Not like he used to.”  
  
It had surprised her, when he first came back. She certainly hadn’t been expecting the Peeta of old, from before the Quarter Quell, even if he did look like him. He had filled out in District 13, receiving regular meals once more and training with the other soldiers. She had tried to sneak a look at him on more than one occasion during these past few weeks, and more often than not, his expression was blank rather than confused or haunted. On the rare times that he had caught her staring, he had given her a soft smile before turning his attention to his food. But he _was_ quieter than he used to be.  
  
“You’re not going to tell him I said that, are you?” she asks suddenly.  
  
“No, Katniss. I told you that everything we discuss was confidential, and I meant it.”  
  
When she doesn’t answer, he asks his second favorite question. “How are you getting on with your routine?”  
  
“Okay,” she replies honestly. “To be frank, it’s starting to get a little boring.”  
  
“Well, that’s good.” Again, she can picture his smile.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“It means that you have the mental capacity to attempt something new. Or old. Something different.”  
  
Later, in bed, she thinks about his words. _Something new_ sounds mildly terrifying. So does _something different_. So that just leaves something old.  
  
Her nightmares are replaced by more pleasant dreams for one night, dreams that take her back to their old house in the Seam – and to her father. He seems happy. When she wakes, she smiles to herself, knowing what needs to be done.  
  
Peeta answers the door in just a loose pair of pants, and she’s sure they’re the ones he would wear to bed on the Victory Tour. He lets her in wordlessly, one arm reaching across his waist in what she thinks is embarrassment at his state of undress. She hovers in the main reception room as he bounds up the stairs, leaping back down a moment later while still pulling a tee shirt down over his stomach.  
  
“It’s my birthday on Tuesday,” she says shyly when he stops in front of her. He smiles as if he already knew this, and her own lips curl when she realizes that this doesn’t surprise her.  
  
“I was thinking that we could have a party.” The final word comes out as a whisper as her doubts return.  
  
“A party?”   
  
“I’ve only ever had one,” she admits with a shrug. “I had a birthday party when I was ten, just with my family. My father traded with yours for some kind of sweet bread, and my mother carved it so that we could pretend that it was a cake. And people have been coming back here to Twelve even when there is nothing left, so I thought that I could hunt and cook and provide food for everyone and –“   
  
“It’s a great idea, Katniss.” He gives her an _old Peeta_ smile, a reassuring one that reaches his eyes, one that she _has_ to return. “I’ll make some bread to go with whatever you cook.”  
  
“Great. Thank you.”  
  
He looks like he wants to say something else, but when he doesn’t, she makes her way to the door. “Thanks again,” she says softly before leaving.  
  
Haymitch merely grunts when she tells him her plan, and she assumes that means that he’ll be there. Greasy Sae and Thom and Leevy respond enthusiastically and agree to spread the word, relieving her of the anxiety of having to speak to anyone else.   
  
On the day, there are more people milling around her house than she even knew to reside in District 12. Thankfully, several guests, including Sae, bring food too, and there is enough for everyone. The people that she doesn’t know smile at her or raise their glasses in acknowledgement, but few approach to speak, and for that she is grateful. Peeta, and even Haymitch, socialize more than she does, and she tries to catch their attention on more than one occasion to display her gratitude. There is no music and little alcohol, but everyone seems happy enough just to have what is on offer – food and company.   
  
When the final stragglers leave, she takes her time to glance around the room. Sae sits on the long couch with her granddaughter curled up in her lap, fast asleep. Haymitch talks to her in quiet mumbles, his thumb circling the rim of his almost empty glass. And Peeta sits in the armchair opposite, watching her carefully.  
  
She gives him a smile, soft and true. A moment later, he returns it before making his way to the kitchen. When he reappears, he hands her a small plate. The cake that sits on it is far from his most elaborate, but the simple, single primrose that sits in one corner still makes her suck in a breath. She had had a conversation with her mother in the morning, and her father in her sleep the night before. And now, it seems like Peeta has brought her sister to her as well.  
  
“Happy birthday.”  
  
The cake is already cut into four pieces, and Peeta hands two of them to Haymitch and Sae silently. He returns to take one for himself, leaving Katniss with the final wedge. Carefully, she removes the sugar flower and places it on edge of the plate. And like they always seem to do, the four of them eat in what she now recognizes as amicable silence.  
  
When she relays the events of the evening to Dr. Aurelius, his pleased laughter reverberates through the phone line.  
  
“That’s fantastic, Katniss. Truly, wonderful progress.”  
  
He suggests returning to her usual routine for a while, but to try and think of other events from her past that she would like to recreate. _Recreate your lost childhood_ , he had proposed. Her routine lasts for exactly one week before she is toying with the next idea that her father brings to her at night.  
  
“I was thinking that we could have a picnic one of these days,” she says carefully to Greasy Sae. Peeta has returned to his house to paint for the afternoon, and Haymitch will probably be starting his second nap of the day. “We used to have them when I was younger,” she adds wistfully.  
  
“Where did you want to go?”  
  
“The lake –“ She stops abruptly, remembering that Sae would have been one of the survivors of the bombing that Gale had led to that exact location. “Being back there…will it be difficult for you?”  
  
Sae gives her a wry smile. “No more than the rest of District 12. Is that where your family used to go?”  
  
“Not by the lake, no. My father took my mother there before I was born, but she never came into the woods after. We would picnic in the meadow. But…” Her voice trails off, unsure of how to say that she doesn’t want to picnic by a makeshift graveyard.   
  
Sae gives her an understanding nod, and she knows that she doesn’t need to elaborate. “Well, I don’t mind making the trek to the lake, as long as you’re happy for me and Maybelle to come along at our own pace.”  
  
She also does Katniss the favor of bringing up the topic at dinner. Haymitch and Peeta agree readily, and Katniss hides her smile behind her hand as she chews her food.  
  
In the morning, Sae arrives with Peeta by her side and Maybelle sat over his shoulders. The three of them grin widely, and she can’t help but smile back, the final doubts about their little trip vanquished.  
  
“I’ll go get Haymitch,” she murmurs, and not even that can dispel the tranquility that she feels in this moment.  
  
Surprisingly, her visit has been anticipated, and Haymitch is already descending the steps from his front door as she approaches.  
  
“I’m coming, sweetheart,” he grumbles. She doesn’t respond, merely taking in his appearance as he makes his way to her. He looks rested, so he must have at least got in a couple of hours of sleep this morning. And he seems relatively sober, though she has no doubt that at least one of the many pockets of his blazer will contain a hipflask.   
  
“Here.” She tosses him one of the bread rolls that Peeta left after dinner last night. “It’s a long walk. You’re going to need some energy.”  
  
They walk slowly, much slower than she does when alone, but she doesn’t mind. Along the way, Maybelle switches to Haymitch’s shoulders, and Peeta flutters around them, pointing out trees and shrubs to the little girl, and plucking at flowers and berries to pass to her whenever he can.   
  
“And this one, I think, is nightlock.”   
  
Katniss freezes mid-step.   
  
“No, I can’t give you this one, sweetheart. It’s bad for you.”  
  
“Bad,” Maybelle repeats with emphasis as Katniss turns slowly on her heel.  
  
Her eyes meet Peeta’s, but there is no fear or regret or even confusion. There is only the same softness that has greeted her since his return to District 12.   
  
“Well…mostly bad,” he says, though his gaze remains on Katniss. Beside them, Haymitch and Sae continue walking, and her world seems to narrow until there is just herself and Peeta.   
  
He seems to be waiting for her to say something, but when she doesn’t, he tosses the berry-covered stem back into the shrubbery from where it was plucked from. He continues walking after the others, slowing as he passes her. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for nightlock,” he murmurs.  
  
And then he’s gone, and Katniss allows herself one final look at the shrub before trailing after him.  
  
She catches up with the rest of the group moments before the lake comes into view. She hears Haymitch chuckle. “So this is where you learned to swim.”  
  
“My father taught me,” she shares as she brushes past him and Maybelle to reach the clearing and set down her basket. “I’ll teach you if you want.”  
  
Haymitch snorts as he drops ungracefully to land on his backside beside her feet. “No thanks.”  
  
“Come on,” Peeta says behind her. Maybelle is now clutching his hand as she trails behind him. “You can teach us.”  
  
She leaves Haymitch and Sae to unpack the baskets as the three of them make their way to the far side of the lake, where she knows that the water is shallow. They strip down to their underwear silently, Maybelle staring for a moment at Peeta’s artificial leg before shrugging and reaching for his hand.   
  
She spends most of her time holding the little girl afloat, surprised by how quickly she manages to follow her instructions and stroke her arms and legs slowly but gracefully through the water. Katniss watches from the corner of her eye as Peeta repeats the actions that she taught him back in the arena.  
  
“You remember,” she calls across to him.  
  
“You’re a good teacher,” he replies with a grin. Below her, Maybelle grins too, floating on her back with just Katniss’s palm to hold her weight.  
  
“Again,” she says, and the girl circles one arm, and then the other until they’re gliding through the water together.  
  
When they’re done, the three of them lie in the sun to dry off a little before dressing. Maybelle takes Peeta’s hand, then skips a little to catch up with Katniss and take hers too.   
  
She looks up to see Peeta’s cheeks tinged with pink. They walk back to the others in silence, and Haymitch has the sense to keep his mouth shut when they arrive, shooting only one curious look that Katniss resolutely attempts to avoid.  
  
The food is already laid out, and they tuck in as soon as they’ve sat down. They eat as they always do – without words.  
  
“So, what’s the occasion?” Haymitch asks as he tosses aside his last duck bone. “Birthday? Some morbid anniversary? Head doctor’s insistence?”  
  
Katniss thinks about it for a moment, before deciding to tell the truth. “Peeta told me that they never had a family picnic when he was a child.”  
  
He looks up in surprise.  
  
“On the rooftop –“  
  
“I remember,” he says quickly. “I just didn’t realize that this was for me.”  
  
She shrugs. “It was for me too.” She looks at each of her companions. “Actually, it was for all of us.”  
  
Katniss watches as each of them smile softly, looking at the ground or at the lake or at the horizon – anywhere but at her. _Her family unit_ , Dr. Aurelius had called them. In this moment, she wouldn’t want be anywhere else.

 


End file.
